7 Proven Ways to Market Your Painting Business

If you don’t have effective marketing, you don’t have a business. Every potential customer starts as a lead or prospect. Unfortunately, most marketing doesn’t work. But here are seven proven ways that have worked for our painting businesses, which are now generating $4 million in annual revenue in five states.

1. Door-to-door marketing

When you’re just starting, this is THE best way to start. A lot of people are afraid to do this, or don’t have the hustle to do it. Which means more leads for you! Basically, every hour you go door-to-door, you’ll get 1-2 painting leads. We’ve run hundreds of marketing teams to arrive at this number.

Pick neighborhoods that are higher income, that need paint. Or have HOA’s that require them to paint every 8-10 years. Here’s a simple effective script you can use:

“Hi, my name is Chandler from Painter Choice and I noticed you had a little peeling on your trim. Would you be interested in a free painting estimate?”

Most people will say no, but a few every hour will say yes!

You’ll want to set up a time later to actually do the estimate. Some people will expect you to do the estimate right then and there, but don’t do this unless they insist. You’ll have a much higher closing rate setting up a special time, when all the decision-makers are present for the bid.

2. Referrals

Referrals are the best leads. If you provide excellent service and quality, you’ll get a lot of referrals. A lot of contractors are unreliable, don’t communicate well, or do sloppy work. So if a previous customer recommends you, there’s a 90% chance you’ll win the job just by showing up.

3. Lead Providers

Lead providers are companies that specifically generate leads for your trade: painting, carpentry, etc. It works like this. A potential customer submits a request for an estimate online and you are sent their information with the project details. For example, “Barbara Johnson needs to paint the exterior of her home, her number is 303-xxx-xxxx.”

We use a few different lead providers for our painting companies:

Painter Choice

CraftJack

Thumbtack

HomeAdvisor is one of the larger lead providers but we’ve had mixed results with them.

With lead providers, you usually pay-per-lead, or set up a monthly budget and get a certain amount of leads. If the lead quality is good, you can usually turn about 70-80% of them into estimates. And then typically sell one out of three bids into an actual job.

You’ll want to track the return on investment with each lead-provider individually to see which ones work the best.

4. Lawn Signs

Lawn signs are one of the best investments you can make for your painting company.

As you’re painting a house, ask your client if you can put up a lawn sign with your company info in their front yard.

This is a GREAT way to get referrals because people can see your work in action. And if the customer allows it, you can leave the lawn sign up for months after it’s completed. You’ll get months of free advertising this way.

When designing your lawn sign, keep it simple. Keep in mind that most people cannot see any small details on your sign. Our lawn signs just have our logo and company name, with our phone number and “Get a Free Estimate” (a simple call-to-action).

5. Lead Groups

Some painters have incredible success with lead groups. These are specific business groups that have various professions/trades. People from different industries will get together once a month and exchange leads/referrals. I know one painter that gets 2-3 jobs a month JUST from his leads group. BNI is one example of a lead group, but you can also search online for other networking groups in your area.

6. Flyer Drops

We’ve had some success with flyer drops, but it can get expensive. For example, we dropped 5,000 flyers, got about 15 call-ins, and sold eight jobs, but the flyer drop cost us $2,000. We DID make a profit from the eight jobs we did, even though the advertising cost us a couple thousand.

It’s important to have an attractive flyer if you’re going to do a flyer drop. Too many people try and include everything imaginable about their company on one flyer. But imagine how much junk-mail/flyers you get already. You really only notice a couple of important headlines, so keep your flyers simple and clear, and include a special that encourages people to call in by a certain time. It’s important to create urgency with this kind of marketing.

7. Online Advertising (SEO, Directories)

I bet you get two calls a week asking if you’d like to “be on the first page of Google”. These are SEO companies promising the number one spot on Google for painting.

First off, you should avoid anyone who PROMISES to get you on the first page. SEO is very complicated and can take a while to get to the top. No one truly knows what spot you’ll be in, except Google.

Online directories: We’ve had success buying a banner ad with the BBB. We tried Yellow Pages but got zero results. Just google around and see what directories and sites show up; get on those.

Most online searches still happen through Google, so if you’re not on Google (or a site that shows up on Google) you probably won’t be found online.

Summary

It can be expensive to experiment with new marketing, so try the ones that work well first. Be very diligent in tracking your ROI. If you’re not tracking which sources produce the most business for you, your just making blind decisions and throwing money away.

We use all the techniques mentioned in this article. Have you found something that works well for your painting business? Let us know (info@PainterChoice.com)!

Thanks for reading!

About The Author

Chandler Zieg ran his own painting company in Denver, Colorado for several years. He also built and sold a moving company that he built utilizing lead services, which is what inspired him to start Painter Choice in 2013.

Are You a Painter?

41 Comments

I have done painting for 20 yrs commercial and residential… I do interior and exterior for homes as well as big contract for apartments. I have my own team of employees and my own tools to work and get the job done..I am interested in getting more jobs..

Hi my name is Mariela and I am very interesting in knowing how it works for you to help me get painting jobs. My husband has been painting for over 15 years and has everything he would need for the job. Hope to hear back from you.. here is my cell phone number as well (252) 915-79**.

I am a real estate agent for Remax Advantage in McDonough, Georgia. I am also experienced in remodeling and Interior as well as exterior decorating. Most of my leads come from referrals and happy clients. I believe if you hold up your end of the deal you have a happy client the key is to listen to what they want and don’t do what you want. My number is 404 -558-8200

Hi Caleb, thanks for reaching out to us. Unfortunately we are not servicing New Zealand Yet. We only service the U.S./Canada but plan on serving other countries in the future. Thanks again for your inquiry!

I noticed you currently service Canada | January 23, 2018 at 6:25 pm Reply

We are a Painting Business in Southern Ontario, please send me your info and pricing for leads in the area.

Hi Adan, we are happy to hear that! These communities usually have a home owners association that you must get in contact with. After you locate their contact info, reach out and introduce yourself. Usually these communities already have painters they recommend, but they might have some newsletter or list you can get on for those jobs.

Hello,
Me and my husband are starting a painting business in Minnesota .
My husband is experienced painter for over 10 years .
I am wondering if you can help us get some painting jobs in Twin Cities for our starting painting company .
Thank you
my contact number is 612-242-56**

Hello, We are a company that has been in business for over 17 years. We are licensed and do the residential and commercial painting… We would like to get more business please contact me at 510-282-71** Thanks

This may be a stretch, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. I repair and restore wooden windows in Ks. I specialize in wood rot and have 15+ years experience, 5 years on my own. I can generate a lot of leads for painters since a lot of the jobs I bid also need their homes, decks, porches, etc. painted. So, I thought I might asked for your help. Is there anything you can do to help me and my window restoration business out? Thanks!

PS:
Your articles are great! I’ve been reading all that you have to offer. I stumbled upon them while looking for an online job pricing estimator. I remember seeing them a couple years ago but haven’t found one that I like yet. I remember just having to enter in the work done and the location and the website would give you the low, median and high cost of labor for your area. I found them extremely easy to use and very helpful for bidding jobs outside of my comfort zone. Maybe I need to stop reading all of your great information and get back to work. I submitted a bid yesterday for painting some fascia and trim. After giving him the estimate, he told me he also wanted the deck repainted. I didn’t bid the deck because I don’t have a formula for decks. I try to stick with just windows, but I’ve learned to take extra work if it presents itself. I know I won’t get the rest of the job unless I also repaint the deck. Back to reading your info, I’ll get back to work later.

Any kind of help would be appreciated! Maybe there’s some way I could help you by generating leads? Who knows. Thanks again!

Hi Chris, unfortunately Columbia, MO is too far outside of St. Louis (A city we do service). We still have an exclusive program for people outside our major cities – we’ll email you more information. We service within 50 miles of any of these cities:

Hello, my name is John F DeRosa Jr. For many years I was in retail sales management i.e Best buy, CompUSA amongst others. Later in life I started working at innovative powder coatings and found I am really good at painting. Now I am looking at starting my own family owned paint business and any help would be greatly appreciated. My number is 609-727-7***. Thank you for your time in this matter.

I recently lost my job. Even though unemployment is at a record low, that is a macro approach. The industry I was in is completely dead and has affected similar industries with my skills and knowledge. That said, I am considering a jump from my previous profession into painting/handyman type employment work. I have always enjoyed performing this type of work. Quiet (I am an introvert). I can help people solve their “problem”. This not a just some temporary “fix” until things turn around. It is a new start. Like with all things, start small and grow bigger.

Since this is a new venture for me, I wondering what type of leads can be generated for me in the Tampa, Florida area? Also, what is typical cost per square foot to paint? Any other information you can provide would also be helpful. And, yes, I am looking the site over for information as well.

Hi David, sorry to hear about your job, but we love the painting industry and have found it to be very profitable. We service the entire U.S., so we definitely service Tampa FL. We get about 40-50 new painting jobs a month just in Tampa. Regarding how much it costs to paint, we have a guide here: How Much Does it Cost to Paint a House?

Hello,
My Husband and i are interested in opening a LLC business, I need to know how we become licensed? We do Residential and commercial work, he has equipment and a crew, we also work out of Cincinnati Ohio could you help us with leads?

Hi Kim, we are able to get leads in Iowa. If you are able to call prospects quickly and follow up in a professional manner, our leads work out really well, but I understand the hesitation. I’ll have someone from our team get in touch with you about our program, thanks!

I am really impressed by the articles I read here in painter choice. I really appreciate all of you.
I have had been in paint and painting services in nigeria for 6 years and I have not seen a lead site like painter choice.
I would appreciate informations that would help me increase getting paint jobs in Nigeria. Thanks
Michael

Hi Michael, unfortunately we don’t know much about the paint industry in your location. We have many free resources on our site that can still help with the basic principles of a painting business. I hope this will be helpful for you, thanks Michael